rear wheel bearing questions

[kurtimus]

I have been the proud owner of a '96 Lsi for the past year and a half. My friendly Subaru dealing has told me this car has been in his shop numerous time (4-5?) for rear bearing replacements which was also the reason for my appointment. That time he told me replacing the bearing, hub and housing would, according to some guru at Subaru, fix the problem forever, at a cost of $800. I followed his advise and a year later, I'm getting "the noise" again. I get the feeling it may be both sides this time.

My dad has stepped in to help out. He ran a truck repair shop for decades and has lots of good technical friends. Everyone he shows the parts to from last year's repair job says "First off, I don't see anything wrong with any of these parts, except for some minor wear on one of the bearings. Secondly, replacing this entire wheel housing was idiotic." They have the theory that the whole works may have been undertightened. Is this a possible scenario?

They dismantled the housing and removed the bearing races which pressed about quite easily. Dad has found outlets for new bearings and seals, but can not find a supplier for the bearing races and there is no number on them. The Subaru parts guy says those aren't available from him. Does anyone know of a supplier for these? Or a part number?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

[MoreIBNR]

Keep us informed as to what you end up doing and the particulars of the solution. Many of us have the same problems.

Originally posted by kurtimus
I have been the proud owner of a '96 Lsi for the past year and a half. My friendly Subaru dealing has told me this car has been in his shop numerous time (4-5?) for rear bearing replacements which was also the reason for my appointment. That time he told me replacing the bearing, hub and housing would, according to some guru at Subaru, fix the problem forever, at a cost of $800. I followed his advise and a year later, I'm getting "the noise" again. I get the feeling it may be both sides this time.

My dad has stepped in to help out. He ran a truck repair shop for decades and has lots of good technical friends. Everyone he shows the parts to from last year's repair job says "First off, I don't see anything wrong with any of these parts, except for some minor wear on one of the bearings. Secondly, replacing this entire wheel housing was idiotic." They have the theory that the whole works may have been undertightened. Is this a possible scenario?

They dismantled the housing and removed the bearing races which pressed about quite easily. Dad has found outlets for new bearings and seals, but can not find a supplier for the bearing races and there is no number on them. The Subaru parts guy says those aren't available from him. Does anyone know of a supplier for these? Or a part number?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

[Beav]

Originally posted by kurtimus


They dismantled the housing and removed the bearing races which pressed about quite easily. Dad has found outlets for new bearings and seals, but can not find a supplier for the bearing races and there is no number on them. The Subaru parts guy says those aren't available from him. Does anyone know of a supplier for these? Or a part number?


Typically these types of bearings are one of a kind in the respect that the hub stem determines the bearing's pre-load. True, the cones may be used in other applications but it's doubtful that the dual race is used elsewhere. What I have found is that the rollers themselves are approximately 50% shorter and a smaller diameter than what is found in similar automotive bearings made for the same purpose.